In All Due Time
by KeyDay02
Summary: After the battle in the Department of Mysteries, Hermione finds herself transported 19 years into the past, and her life is changed forever. She thinks she's risking her future and that of everyone she loves, but what if everything she's doing has already happened? SB/HG
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's notes:**_ _Well, here goes nothing! My name is C, I've been reading HP fan fiction for almost 10 years, and I thought it was time for me to give something back to this site. I'm not a native english speaker, so please bear in mind there WILL be mistakes here. If you like what you read and want to help by beta reading, please say so in a review ^^_

 _The majority of this first chapter is based off an actual scene from Order of the Phoenix, which I have altered (_ _a lot_ _) to suit my story. Also, since I do this for entertainment, most of the things that I claim (such as the order of the rooms in the Department of Mysteries, the dates, or the character's behaviors) haven't been checked and are most likely wrong._

 _In this story, in the original timeline Hermione is 19 years younger than the Marauders._

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _: None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _June, 1993_

 _"Do you remember, Hermione?", he asked, his eyes drilling into hers with an intensity that unsettled her, as if he were expecting something._

 _Confusion in her voice, she whispered. "Remember? What do you mean?". She saw his gaze drop in disappointment, the realization that she didn't know what he was talking about settling in._

 _"One day you will understand", he said as he jumped on the hippogriff's back. "See you soon, Kitten". And he flew away._

 _Two years later..._

 _May, 1995_

She could hear the sounds of the battle close to her. The familiar voices of the members of The Order, firing curses and spells after Voldemort's Death Eaters. The steps of people running, the screams of her friends. Feeling overwhelmed with the pain of Dolohov's curse, her vision started to blur.

Bur she couldn't stop fighting. They had managed to retrieve the prophecy, they couldn't fail now.

As she ran through the strange rooms of the Department of Mysteries, searching for Harry's voice, she got that feeling again. The same feeling she had last year, minutes before Harry stumbled out of the maze clutching the Triwizard Cup with one arm and Cedric Diggory's dead body with the other. The feeling that something was about to change, and not for good.

Suddenly, she head his voice, a couple rooms behind. "No - get - off - me... Neville - catch it!". She turned around towards it, running as fast as she could.

She sped through the planet room, dodging what appeared to be Mars, and opened the door to the time room. The familiar shape of the time turners flew past her peripheral vision, but she was too busy focusing on the door on the other side, getting closer and closer.

She pushed it open, and found the only room that seemed out of place here, as strange as the place was. What looked like thousands of stone seats made up an amphiteatre that seemed to belong to Roman times and circled around a small stage, where a dark archway stood. Gazing at it, she felt a chill run down her spine.

Scanning the room, she saw Dumbledore at another door, grabbing the attention of what now was a terrified group of Death Eaters. Harry was trying to help Neville up, stumbling around the seats.

Through the corner of her eye, she spotted a figure entering the room and swiftly moving towards the stage, where she could see Harry's godfather clutching his arm. Running to him as fast as she could, she fired a hex towards Bellatrix, just in time to divert the green beam of light that was coming out of her wand.

"Nearly got you, cousin." Bellatrix said, leaving the shadow of the stone steps and filling the air with her mad cackle. "Once again the mudblood comes to save the day".

With a confused look in her eyes, Hermione jumped into the stage, where Sirius stood, anger filling the look he was giving his relative. "You've lost the prophecy, get out of here".

Her madness filling the room, she chuckled. "Oh, but I've just started having fun, Sirius dear". She pointed her wand towards Hermione, who ducked to the side, and Sirius jumped in front of her, holding her hand with his as he used the other to send curse after curse at Bellatrix.

As they moved across the dais, she could see Dumbledore fighting off the remaining Death Eaters. She saw a red jet of light wheezing past her shoulder, and Sirius started laughing. "Come on, you can do better than that!", he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

She felt the blow before the pain. It had hit Sirius right in the chest, and went right through him to land on her back. Time seemed to slow down, and she turned around to find him looking at her, with that strange intensity that had always made her feel so uneasy. They were falling backwards, and it was too late when she realized they were going right through the veil.

She could only see his eyes, his deep grey eyes. And then, darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's notes:_** _Hope you enjoy! ^^_

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _: None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _May, 1977_

"... had never seen anything like it. What this girl must have gone through, I can only imagine". It was a familiar voice, one that she had heard one too many times. "You should send her to St. Mungos. With what we have here, I only have supplies to help her with her pain".

She felt like she had been run over by a truck and then thrown down a cliff. The red gash on her shoulder was like a mosquito bite compared to the strong throbbing in her head. Hermione started opening her eyes, only to close them right away, flinching, blinded by the bright light that was coming through the windows.

Noticing the movement, Madame Pomfrey moved towards the back of the room, where she looked for something in one of the closets. "I'm sorry Poppy, but we cannot draw any attention towards her at the time". He sat next to her bed and looked at her face, concern in his eyes. "If she remains at Hogwarts, we might be able to protect her".

Feeling the cold of a glass bottle being pressed against her lips, Hermione turned her head, nauseated. "Don't worry my dear, it's just to make you feel better. The Headmaster would like to have a word with you". The nurse turned towards Albus, disapproval in her face. "Although he knows perfectly fine how important it is for patients to rest".

She accepted the cold liquid that was being offered, and started to feel better with the first gulp. When she was finished, she was finally able to open her eyes, and could see the Headmaster's blue, piercing gaze. "Worry not, my dear. We just need to know who you are and what happened to you".

She looked about her surroundings, feeling confused. She was in the infirmary, the same room she had been in countless times throughout her previous years at Hogwarts. Looking after Harry after he was attacked by Quirrell. In her second year, recovering after seeing the basilisk in one of Hogwarts' hallways. In her third year, when Harry fell off his broom after a horde of dementors assailed him. And many times after that. How could it be that Madame Pomfrey didn't recognize her? And the Headmaster, he knew her perfectly fine, what was he talking about?

"Headmaster, it's me, Herm- ", she started. But then, as her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed that Madam Pomfrey didn't have the characteristic worry lines in her forehead and eyes. And Professor Dumbledore's hair was not the bright silver she was accustomed to. You could still see some brown strewn around his grey head.

Then, she began to remember. The Department of Mysteries. Bellatrix. The archway. And falling through the veil with Sirius. She started to panic.

"What happened to Sirius, Headmaster? Did they get the prophecy? Is Harry alright?", she asked, her voice catching when she saw the perplexity in his eyes. He had no idea what she was talking about. She could feel the world spinning, and grasped her shoulder at the pain she felt when she sat up.

"My dear, calm down. We will help you, and whoever Sirius or Harry are". He was beginning to understand. This girl, whoever she was, had met him already. Multiple times, apparently. "Take a deep breath, and please, tell me. What year is it?".

Sensing what he was going to say, she responded. "1996, sir". When she saw the look on his face, she knew.

"I'm sorry, my dear". He took her hand, concern in his voice. "We are actually in 1977".


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's notes:**_ _Well, these three chapters are what I have for now. Once again, hope you enjoy ^^ If you do, please leave a review, it means the world to me!_

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _: None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Ms. Rowling's mastermind._

 _June - September, 1977_

After the initial confusion had passed, Hermione had spent an entire month hidden away in the west tower of Hogwarts, safe from the prying eyes of anyone who could pose a threat to her life. It was basic caution, they didn't know how many students were already members of Voldemort's secret minion club.

But her safety was not her only concern. Hermione had travelled back in time. Merlin knew what could happen to the future -actually, her past- if she meddled with the current events. For now, she had to stay away from everyone, lest she go back to her life and find that she was now Italian, or that Harry was now a girl. It was her responsibility to make sure everything happened as it was supposed to.

So she spent an entire month in that sodding tower. And she hated every minute of it.

It gave her time to heal. Dolohov's curse, whatever it was, only stopped bleeding after two weeks. Poppy was so afraid Hermione would bleed out that by that time she had spent a month's worth of Blood-Replenishing potions. Once the wound had closed, the nurse was able to heal it in no time, although there remained a thin line that crossed her body, from ear to armpit. Hermione wasn't ashamed of her scar, she wore it proudly, especially since it helped her remember that she wasn't going mad, that everything had actually happened.

It also gave her time to talk to Dumbledore. He squeezed every bit of information about that night out of her brain, trying to understand what had actually happened. Of course, he asked Hermione not to give him any specific details, such as names or dates, but she had to tell him everything she had seen in the Department of Mysteries. If they wanted to get her back to her time, first they had to understand what happened to her.

Apparently, it wasn't going to be easy. Dumbledore had sent one of his friends, a young Auror in training named Kingsley Shacklebolt, to investigate on what Hermione had called the Veil. But even though the few Unspeakables that he knew weren't allowed to tell him anything about what their job entailed, they didn't seem to react at all to his mentioning the Veil. Either it hadn't been invented yet, or it had yet to be discovered.

After her month in the tower, Hermione was almost completely recovered. She still had a migraine from time to time, and she couldn't keep the nightmares at bay, but she had her magical and physical abilities back. So she was sent on holiday with Minerva McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore had decided to share Hermione's secret with her, especially since she seemed to trust the teacher with her life. Aside from taking the time to rest, Hermione and her host spent the summer coming up with a life story for the girl, since they didn't know when she would be back to her time.

They decided she would become McGonagall's niece. "My parents died this March, and you are my only family left", Hermione said for the umpteenth time. "Since you are so busy throughout the year being Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts, you decided to have me transferred from Golden Crossbow Academy in Northern Ireland to keep an eye on me". She knew the story from head to toe. They had even come up with a name for her first pet.

Since she had missed her fifth year exams, Professor Dumbledore agreed to let her take them a week before the start of the classes, so she kept herself busy, practicing spells and studying the long and boring Wizarding Wars. Of course she passed all subjects with flying colours, earning the pride of the Gryffindor Head of House.

The day the students arrived at Hogwarts, Hermione had been there for a week. She had been introduced to her teachers: some - like Professor Binns, Flitwick and Vector - she already knew. But of course they didn't recognize her. She noted the absence of Professor Snape, but little did she know that it wouldn't be too long before she met him.

She had spent the day in the library, trying to find any information on time travel on the few books she hadn't touched in her five years at Hogwarts, to no avail. She was feeling extremely nervous and couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept going back to her first year, when she hadn't made any friends until a huge troll tried to kill her in the toilets. What would have to happen for her to make some friendships here? She was all alone, aside from Professor McGonagall, but their friendship would only help to alienate her further from her classmates. She missed her friends so much, and felt so lonely.

It was with that loneliness in mind that she packed her things and headed towards the Great Hall. When she got there, the students were still making their way into the huge room, so she just mixed in with them. She let the atmosphere engulf her, enjoying the feeling of familiarity: the excitement for a new school year, the joy at seeing their friends again, the nostalgia of being back at Hogwarts... on one hand it felt so right. But on the other hand, not having Harry and Ron to live it with her made her feel uneasy.

Walking towards the Gryffindor table, she decided it was better to sit alone. Back in her time, she knew who would sit with who, but here... she didn't want to take someone's place. So she went to the end of the table and sat around empty spaces.

It was a couple minutes later that she heard a voice behind her back. "Excuse me, is this seat taken?", said a feminine voice.

Hermione turned around, and saw what looked to be a sixth year girl. She had long, silky red hair, and bright green eyes that made her go mute, her face blank with surprise. Those eyes...

They were Harry's eyes. Exactly like his. That was when she came to the realization that it made sense. After all, Harry had been born just as his parents finished school, and it would only be a couple years until then.

She had heard countless times about Lily Potter. Everyone said Harry looked exactly like his father, but that his eyes were his mother's. And they weren't wrong. Hermione felt tears well up at the familiarity. Boy, had she missed that concerned glance.

That's when she realized that she had been staring. Not only that, but she was actually crying. She muttered an apology, wiped away her tears, and motioned for her to sit. "Go ahead", she said.

The girl introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, my name is Lily Evans", the redhead said with a smile. "Are you alright?".

"Yes, I'm fine". Hermione replied quietly. "I'm sorry, I just... you reminded me of someone".

Waving it off, Lily started asking her about her transfer. She bought the story without a problem, and after giving her condolences, they moved into other topics, such as their summer and their expectations for the coming year. Hermione realized she was a very sweet girl, so easy to talk to, and she seemed really smart.

They were talking about their favourite subjects when she noticed four boys heading in their direction. After seeing Lily, she knew it would be a short time until she met them, but nothing had prepared her for the sight of her best friend after four months away.

She knew she wasn't seeing Harry. James Potter was walking down the Great Hall towards their end of the Gryffindor table in all his glory: tall, handsome, his dark hair pointing in all possible directions. They were as right about him as they had been about Lily's eyes. The only difference between him and her best friend was the absence of the lightning scar that crossed Harry's forehead and that he had brown eyes. Had he closed them, she would have thought she was back at home.

Behind him came his entourage. She noticed Remus at first, since she was most familiar with him. He looked so young, all matters considered. Lycanthropy had obviously taken a toll on him, especially since Wolfsbane wouldn't be invented until two years later, but he looked much older and worn out than his peers. It filled Hermione with sadness, knowing that a boy that she knew would grow into such a sensitive, caring man, had to go through that since he was so young.

Looking behind him, Hermione felt her blood boil. After all, her best friend had gone through hell and back ever since he was a child because of the man she had in front of her. Peter Pettigrew, looking as much as a rat as a person could, scurried through the Hall, apparently nervous. She had to keep in mind that he hadn't done anything wrong yet, but it took quite an effort to keep herself from sending him the nastiest hex she could think of.

She forced herself to look away from Peter, and then her eyes found him. After the shock of seeing James and Lily Potter -now Evans-, she thought she had gone through the worst. But there, right in front of her, was Sirius Black.

Back in her time, after thirteen years in Azkaban, Sirius' appearence showed the hell he'd had to go through living surrounded by Dementors, but he had still remained handsome in his way. Then she realized it was probably because, to put it simply, young Sirius Black was dashing. Without the toll of losing his best friend, being betrayed by one of his mates, being doubted by the friend he had supported all throughout his teens, and spending almost half his life locked up with soul-sucking beings, he looked like youth in person. He had long black hair, shiny grey eyes, and had confidence exuding through his every pore. She could see the looks of desire that many of the girls in the Great Hall gave him. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

When his eyes met hers, she was breathless. There were the same eyes, the last memory she had from her time. She had fallen through the Veil holding this man's hand, and for the second time that night, Hermione felt herself tearing up.

By the time she had taken them all in, James had reached her and Lily. "Hello Evans, had a nice summer?", he asked playfully, ruffling his hair. "Didn't see you in the train". He sat right in front of her, with Remus and Peter on each side.

"That's because I was doing my job as a Prefect, wich apparently you decided to skip". She looked at him disapprovingly. Apparently she had as good a sense of responsibility as Hermione. She smiled internally.

"Come on, cut him some slack", said Sirius, sitting next to Hermione. "It's just the first day, nobody noticed". He looked up and down at her with curiosity in his eyes, not recognizing her. "Hello, my name is Sirius. And you are...?".

Feeling a blush creeping up her neck from being scrutinized, she introduced herself. "I'm Hermione McGonagall". They immediately recognized her last name. To save her the embarassment, Lily started telling them her story.

"So you've been transferred here for your last two years, huh?", James asked after she was done. "Well, you seem like a nice girl, so you can count on us to keep you company. My name is James".

Hermione smiled gratefully. "That's very nice of you", she said. "I'm actually not very good at making friends, so it's a great help".

"Well, you have found your opposites, then", interjected Peter with a grin. "James and Sirius here can't help but become friends with everyone they meet. I'm Peter, by the way". Hermione was taken aback. He seemed like a nice kid.

"Except for those guys over there", said Sirius, pointing towards the furthest end of Slytherin table. "See that blond guy? He's bad news. Don't get close to him, or anyone around him". He gave them a dark glance, and Hermione noticed that he was staring at what looked like a smaller version of him, only with green robes. She decided not to ask.

Lily cleared her throat, offended. "Well, that doesn't apply to every one of them". She motioned towards the other side of the table. "See that guy over there with the long black hair? His name is Severus. If what you told me about potions is right, you're gonna get along right away".

Hermione froze in place. Severus? Severus Snape? She looked over at his side of the table, and suddenly, he shot right up and his eyes crossed hers. Giving her a suspicious glance, he softened when he saw Lily, but didn't greet her.

Turning around, she saw that Remus seemed to be very busy staring into his cup, as if expecting it to melt away, so she decided to break the silence. "Well Lily, I know all of your friends now, but who would this be?".

Surprised by the unexpected attention, he quietly responded. "I'm Remus, Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you".

Hermione smiled at him. "Nice to meet you too". Looking around the table, she noticed everyone was sitting already. "Well, when are we having dinner? I'm wolfish with hunger".

Remus jumped at her question, her words sinking deep into his mind. "What did you- ?". But he was interrupted by the sound of Professor Dumbledore clinking his cup.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. I had a long speech prepared, but I forgot to have lunch today and could die of hunger", he said with a twinkle in his eye. "So let's get started with the Sorting, we have a full year for speeches!".

Looking around her at the laughing students, Hermione smiled. Maybe being sent back in time wasn't going to be too bad after all.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's notes**_ _: Well, it seems there's actually some people enjoying this fic, and I didn't even expect anyone to ever find it! Thanks to all of those who read all three episodes, and even more to those that are following the story. You can't even imagine what it means to me._

 _By the time this gets published, I'll have already started writing the next one, so stay tuned ^^_

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _: None of the characters depicted here belongs to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _September, 1977_

The morning of September 19th, 1977, found Hermione eating breakfast at the Gryffindor table while reading the Daily Prophet, as she did every morning. She hadn't renewed her suscription since she arrived in this timeline, but for some reason, the small brown owl arrived every morning with her copy of what was happening in the wizarding world. Apparently, magical subscriptions worked beyond time.

It had been four months since she fell through the Veil, and almost three weeks since classes had started in Hogwarts, and she was starting to get used to it. She was getting used to greeting Lily every morning instead of Ginny. She was getting used to going to the Great Hall for breakfast with James and Remus instead of Harry and Ron. She was getting used to grabbing a bite for Sirius and Peter, who usually overslept and had to go straight to their classes. And, to her surprise, she was also getting used to joining Severus every monday for their three-hour Potions class.

Although it would have been hard not to get used to it after that first class.

 _Around three weeks ago..._

 _As Hermione ran through Hogwarts' halls, all she could think about was all the possible ways to strangle those boys without leaving any evidence. She was about to be late. To her first Potions lesson. Merlindammit._

 _As she stumbled through the door, she gave out a sigh of relief. There was nobody to be found at the teacher's desk. She walked to what had been her spot in the front row of the class for the past five years, turning her head just enough to cast a playfully annoyed glace towards James and Sirius, who were snickering behind her. 'Bloody prats', she thought. 'They know perfectly well it's their fault I overslept'. They laughed harder as she turned around and got to her seat, keeping her head up defiantly._

 _She had met them only four days ago, but she already felt like she had known them all her life. She had spent the past four nights with her house mates in the Gryffindor common room. Lily introduced her to the other Gryffindor sixth year, Alice Southwark, who she learned was a Chaser in their house's Quidditch team, where she played with James and Sirius. All four nights were they surprised by the midnight alarm after hours of talking about their previous years at school. Apparently, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, known as the Marauders, were Hogwarts' main pranksters. Not that she didn't know, Sirius and Remus had told her and her friends plenty of their old stories back at home, but hearing them when nostalgia hadn't yet settled in was more entertaining._

 _It was because of what she had learned on the previous days that she knew who was to blame for her tardiness. She had woken up to find that her school uniform was suddenly made out of feathers. She'd had to run to McGonagall's office to ask for help, since whenever she tried to transfigure it back it kept transforming again, fluffier and brighter than before. Apparently the Weasley twins weren't the only ones to find bird pranks funny._

 _Less than a minute had passed when a middle-aged man entered the classroom, preceded by his huge belly. She hadn't met him the previous week, and she felt something wasn't quite right. In all her five years at Hogwarts, it had always been a black, willowing cloak that had stormed the room, slamming the door closed. Then she realized that the owner of those billowing robes wasn't too far away. Scanning the room, she found him on the other side of the classroom. Sitting all by himself sat Severus Snape._

 _Their teacher introduced himself: his name was Horace Slughorn. He had been teaching potions for almost sixty years, and it didn't take her too long to know why she didn't really like him. When he first asked the class why a sloth brain was required while brewing the Draught of Living Death, she immediately raised her hand. He nodded when she gave a perfect answer -'to stop the drinker from moving in his sleep, Professor'- , but it was only after he learned her last name was McGonagall that he rewarded her with 20 house points. 'How disappointed he'd be if he knew I am just a plain muggleborn...', she thought to herself. She decided to stay silent for the rest of his lessons._

 _After a thorough two hour introduction to the difficult brewing process, they started to prepare the aforementioned potion. They were supposed to work with a partner given the difficulty, so Slughorn asked Severus to join her in the front row. He gathered his things and moved to the seat next to her, grumbling all the way._

 _Following an awkward introduction, they decided to split the work between the two, so as not to hinder the progress of their potion. Silently they set to work, Hermione preparing the Infusion of Wormwood and Severus the remaining ingredients. She noticed how he muttered an approval when she crushed the wormwood before adding it to her cauldron, getting a stronger and better reaction from it._

 _She also noticed how he scribbled over his textbook, crossing the author's instructions and writing in his own in tiny, spidery handwriting. At first she felt nervous about the changes, thinking they wouldn't make it in time, but when they were finished after barely 35 minutes, she couldn't help but gape at him._

 _Yes, he was silent, introverted and didn't seem to give his hygiene much thought. But she realized then and there what he was a true genius. She smiled at him and thanked him for his work, and she could be damned if she hadn't actually seen Severus Snape blush._

 _After earning a hundred points each for being the first students to succesfullly prepare the Draught of Living Death in Slughorn's class, they both picked their belongings and left the classroom together, not before Hemione sent a mocking look towards James and Sirius, who seemed to have managed to brew a very realistic looking cauldron of mud._

 _That first time Snape left hurriedly after muttering a small goodbye, but it wouldn't be too long before Hermione would get the opportunity to get to know him better._

Hermione smiled after remembering the satisfaction of earning 120 points for her house on her first day of Potions. The only time she had seen something like that happen was back in second year, when Snape was on full Gryffindor-hating mode and gave Draco Malfoy 60 points for breathing. Twice.

As she was finishing her breakfast, Hermione felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she found herself facing Albus Dumbledore's twinkling gaze.

"Good morning, Miss McGonagall", he greeted her. "How are you finding your new school?".

Following his lead, since he knew perfectly well that she was familiar with Hogwarts, she was quick to reply. "It's pefect so far, professor".

"That's great, my dear", he said, his eyes still twinkling. "Could you please meet me in my office next monday after class? Minerva wanted me to discuss some matters with you".

After she nodded in agreement, he excused himself, saying it just loud enough for her new friends to hear it. "Have a nice day, Miss McGonagall. And happy birthday".

She looked back into her paper, noticing the date, and realized that yes, she was now seventeen years old.

As her friends exploded in congratulations and cries of reproach for not telling them, she gazed again towards his retreating figure, a twinkle still in his eyes. 'Damned old man', she thought with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's notes**_ _: I really hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it ^^_

 _I wrote all five of these in less than 24 hours, so I probably won't update until tomorrow. Luckily for you, it's a long one!_

 _Once again, sorry for the many mistakes you will find here._

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _: None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _October, 1977_

As Hermione sat in the library with James and Peter, her hand flew across the paper, trying to cram the final four lines of her Transfiguration essay into the last centimeter. She had always had problems with these, since she wanted to give too much information in too little paper. In her frustration, she didn't notice her friends' desperate looks. Their problem was exactly the opposite.

After she was done, she carefully rolled her parchment and put it inside her bag, glancing at the clock. She was pleased to see that she would be just in time for her meeting with Professor Dumbledore.

But her good humor didn't last very long. As she waved goodbye to her friends and left the common room, she remembered what they would be discussing: how she would get back home. She was yearning for Harry and Ron's company, but what if he told her she was stuck here forever? She hadn't met an older version of herself back in her time. Did that mean she died before she had the chance?

Gulping down, she kept walking until she stood before the ugly gargoyle that concealed the Headmaster's office. "Cauldron cakes", she muttered, and the statue let her pass.

She knocked on Professor Dumbledore's door, and received a muted "Come in" in response.

As she entered his office, she saw that the Headmaster wasn't alone. She recognized a very young Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Auror that was helping Dumbledore to find out how she had come to be in this timeline.

"Kingsley, this is Miss Granger", said her Professor. Hermione was surprised by the use of her real name, but given the circumstances, thought it made sense that he was given more information than normal.

"A pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Granger", he smile openly while shaking her hand. Yes, he was still as nice as back home. "Sadly, I was just leaving. Good evening, Headmaster. Hermione".

Throwing a small amount of a glittery, silver powder he had grabbed from a table close by, he jumped into the fireplace and said, after clearing his voice, "Ministry of Magic!". He disappeared in a green flash.

Turning het attention towards the Headmaster, he gestured for her to sit. "I have noticed you didn't have trouble making friends here, my dear", he said with a kind smile. "What do you think of your classmates?".

She didn't know where to begin. "They are all very nice, Professor. They welcomed me straight away", she said, wringing her hands. Looking up, she added "But it feels strange. Some of them I know from back home, and I can't help but feel that I might be changing my the future. My past, I mean".

The Headmaster chuckled. "There's nothing to worry about, my dear. I know it can be confusing, but let me explain to you how time travel works". He flicked his wand and a roll of parchment appeared spread on the table between them. Grabbing a quill from his desk, he started drawing a straight, blue line. "This is Time. It is easily represented by a straight line because, by itself, it only moves forward". He put his quill down and grabbed another one. "This is what the timeline you lived in looked up to the moment you fell through the Veil". Around the middle of the blue line, and following the same direction, he started drawing a red one. "Everything moved forward, into a straight line. Some people even say that our futures are set in stone and we have no free will, since once we make a choice, it cannot be undone. And," he continued, as he made the red line curve around itself and start moving backwards, where it touched the blue line at a point before the red one started, "this is what happened when you moved back in time. You moved to a time where you hadn't been born yet. And the reason you went back is because, in your past, before you were born, Hermione Granger had one day suddenly appeared in Hogwart's fields".

As he let the information be absorbed by her, he continued drawing her red line, which eventually joined itself where it began. "See, if the Hermione Granger that arrived here in your past had stayed, you two would have met, eventually. But you have told me you remember no such thing. This can be explained in two ways". Flicking his wand, the drawing duplicated. In the first one, before the red line met itself, he made it jump and loop again, forward this time. "The first explanation is that before being born, you managed to leave and go back to where you belonged". In the second one, he erased part of the red line before it met itself. "The second one, which we are doing everything in our power to stop, is that you... ran out of time". He said this last bit with sadness in his eyes, and Hermione understood.

"That means I might have died back here, right?", she said. She was a bright girl. Brightest witch of her age, some had said. It didn't take much to put the pieces together.

As Professor Dumbledore nodded, she once again felt the terror that had filled her when she first learned she was in 1997.

But before the feeling could sink in, the Headmaster chimed in. "You just saw my friend Kingsley. He was here for a reason, and I think we have found the reason why that second drawing is wrong". He pulled out of his drawer a picture of some ancient ruins.

She had seen the same picture a thousand times. "Thats the Giza Necropolis, in Egypt". When she looked into Albus' eyes se saw a sparkle of recognition.

"Thats, right my dear. Am I right to guess that you have heard about Cleopatra VII, who ruled Egypt around the first century BC?", he asked, and smiled at the speed she nodded her head, filled with excitement. "Then you probably know about her liaison with Julius Caesar".

Hermione grinned. Before she learned about her magic, when she was just a kid, most of the books she had read were about ancient civilizations, and the Egyptian was definitely her favourite. "Of course, Professor. But what do they have to do with the Necropolis? Cleopatra's body has yet to be found, she couldn't possibly be buried there. And the Caesar was murdered".

"Well, that's what we thought until a couple days ago, when one of Mr. Shacklebolt's contacts, a well known archaeologist in the wizarding world, made a groundbreaking discovery". He pulled out another picture, which Hermione didn't recognize. It looked like a mixmatch of Egyptian and Roman ruins. It didn't make any sense. "This, my dear, is where we are certain the Veil you have told us about is buried. It has been named the Lesor Complex. See...", removing the parchments with the red and blue lines from the table, he uncovered what looked like the oldest book she had seen in her seventeen years. He opened it and showed her what appeared to be ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. "Most of this book had been decyphered many years ago. It tells us about the history of Cleopatra's rule. But it wasn't until recently that we were able to decipher the middle part. It tells about her love for Caesar, and how he gave her a present to make sure that they would be together to share their love, only when the time was right, and that it was buried so noone could take it away from her".

Understanding what he meant by 'only when the time was right', Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat. "Do you think that it talks about the Veil, and that she fell through it?".

The Headmaster nodded. She truly was a very clever girl.

But her brow furrowed in confusion. "But... if it was meant to bring them together, and Caesar was murdered... what happened to her?".

Once again, she could see the twinkle in his eyes. "But my dear, Caesar wasn't murdered!". Hermione gasped, confused. "Not many people know about this, but Cleopatra was one of the most powerful witches of ancient times. It is known that, shortly after Caesar left her, when she disappeared, she put her soul into one last charm. She glamoured one of her wisest and most loyal soldiers, and sent him for Caesar. The real Julius went back to Egypt, met his beloved and went through the Veil with her". He gave her a knowing look, continuing. "It was her soldier, glamoured as Caesar, that was murdered by his council".

Her voice filled with excitement, she asked. "Is there any evidence on this?".

"Of course. I told you Mr. Shacklebolt's friend was a well known archaeologist". She nodded. "Well, as such, he knows all kinds of techniques to know whom and when a body belongs. Lesor was an amazing complex. It was made up of hundreds of rooms, had underground gardens, cattle... Anyone would have lived there for a very long time. And apparently, in one of the chambers they found two bodies in an embrace. They were tested, and confirmed without a doubt to belong to Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, whom, as you know, lived around the first century BC". She saw his twinkle go full strength as he paused before finally continuing. "And imagine the surprise on the archaeologist's face when he found that their tests estimated their death to be around the 1750's, and that they were over 60 years old".

 _ **Author's notes, part 2**_ _: You weren't expecting that, huh? I just love Egyptian history._

 _I apologize for taking the liberty of changing Caesar and Cleopatra's life stories, but the fic required it._

 _If you want to why older Sirius didn't appear in Hogwarts with Hermione... well... you're gonna have to wait a little while! ^^_

 _Please review!_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's notes:**_ _Once again, thanks for following/reviewing/favoriting. Hope you enjoy ^^_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _October, 1977_

Do you know that feeling you get when you return to Math class after having missed one too many lessons? Like someone is trying to cram a huge circle into the tiny triangle-shaped hole that is your head?

Well, for the first time in her life, Hermione Granger was feeling just like that.

After her meeting with Professor Dumbledore, se had drifted off the path back to Gryffindor tower, needing some time to take everything in. She found herself aimlessly wandering around the castle, thinking of everything they had talked about. She knew she would have to reflect about the trickiest parts -that time-travel explanation still made her want to curl up into a ball and cry in the corner-, but as she walked and relaxed, the implications of their conversation started dawning on her.

The Headmaster had told her that she couldn't change her past, since everything she was doing right now had already happened before she was a child. That meant that she was free to do as she wanted: she could go and stab Voldemor for all she cared, that he would find a way to come back and kill Lily and James, and it wouldn't be her fault. Sad as it was, it really took a huge weight off her shoulders.

But on the other hand, she had hoped for a little tweaking to be possible. After all, she knew that Harry's deepest desire was being reunited with his parents, as that was what he had seen reflected back at him in the Mirror of Erised. Only, seeing that wish fulfilled was just the beginning of what she wanted to do. What if she could stop Peter from betraying his friends? Or keep Sirius out of Azkaban? Or Alice and Frank from being tortured into madness, leaving them bed-ridden and oblivious to the world around them?

She couldn't stop a couple tears of frustration from sliding down her cheeks. If only she could build a wall to keep her friends safe from all that grief...

Hermione shook her hair and wiped her tears, and decided that thinking about it was pointless. Whatever happened, happened. There was nothing she could do.

Which led her to the other topic they had discussed: Dumbledore's version of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar's final years had completely absorbed her. So much, that she hadn't noticed one small flaw. When they had jumped together through the Veil, they had also arrived at their destination together. Why, then, was older Sirius not with her now?

Her footsteps echoing around the dark hallway, she could still hear Dumbledore's distant voice in her head. "... he gave her a present to make sure that they would be together to share their love, only when the time was right..." .She blushed at the implications. Sirius and her, together? No, it was impossible. He was nineteen years her senior. She thought he was a handsome man and they had held the most interesting conversations back at the library at Grimmauld Place, but she couldn't help but see him as a distant uncle, a fatherly figure for Harry.

But what it the Veil thought differently? What if they were meant to be together?

She was still pondering this thought when she ran into what felt like a wall. But softer. And warm. Taking a step back and looking up, Hermione was faced once again with those familiar grey eyes. "Sirius", she exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed a walk", he said, a dark expression on his face. "There's an Exploding Snap tournament going on at the moment, and I couldn't think with all the noise in the common room".

She could see something was troubling him. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?".

"Well, I've already discussed it with the guys, so I guess a female opinion wouldn't be too bad". He sighed, and walked towards one of the stone benches in the hallway, where they sat. "You know my family. The Noble and Most Ancient house of black has fervently supported blood purity for as long as it has existed. And lately my parents have been nagging me and my brother about it more than usual. I...". He lifted his gaze and looked at her with concern. "They want us to join the ranks of that loon, Voldemort".

She shook her head, showing her disapproval. "I think you're too good to do that, Sirius", she replied. "And you don't have to do anything you don't want to".

He looked down, putting his head on his hands. "I know, I know. But if I refuse, I know they'll disown me. My mother in particular, she's crazy when it comes to this stuff. St. Mungo's crazy. Only that's not the worst part". He turned around, looking at the wall in front of them, a glassy look on his eyes. "The worst part is, I think my brother's actually gonna go through with it".

"Your brother... he's in Slytherin, right?", Hermione said. She thought she had seen him a couple times at meals. "Maybe his housemates are pressuring him to join".

He nodded. "Yes, he is. And I'm pretty sure that's whats going on". Defeat showed in his face. "I love Regulus. We've had our differences, but I know he is good deep down. And I'm afraid that me getting kicked out of the family will only push him further into Voldemort's web, and he will only see his mistake when it's too late".

She could see how this was driving him mad. And she understood perfectly. Ever since she had joined the Wizarding World, she had thought about it more than once. Why was it that lunatics like Voldemort always managed to thrive at the expense of so many innocent people's happiness? Sliding one of her arms around his back, his head sank into her shoulder, appreciating the comfort and support. "Thank you, Hermione, really. Talking about this with James is not so easy, you know? He's a pureblood too, but his family is just perfect". He sighed.

They got up and walked together silently, each thinking about their own concerns. Sirius, about when it would be best to once and for all leave his family. Hermione, about how, even though she had arrived alone to the other side of the Veil, the boy who would become the man that had held her hand at the Department of Mysteries was here with her, after all.

 _November, 1977_

The first two months of classes had gone by in a breeze, and it was time for Hermione to start worrying about her winter holidays. She would normally go back home and spend a couple weeks with her parents, but she didn't have that option now.

Minerva would be staying at Hogwarts, unlike her friends, and the prospect of spending her winter holidays alone in the library, studying and researching Cleopatra's story didn't seem very exciting at the time. She had already done enough of that the past few weeks.

Hermione was sitting in Arithmancy, solving some of the equations Professor Vector had written on the blackboard. She felt a nudge on her side, and turned to see Remus trying to catch her attention.

"Hey, Herms. Just to give you a heads up, we're celebrating Sirius' birthday tonight", he said with a smile. "Gryffindor common room at six. And don't bother going to dinner, the house elves are preparing a feast just for us".

Hermione smiled back at him and nodded. "I'll be there".

After her classes were done for the day, she went straight to the library to finish her assignments for next week. The last thing she wanted was to spend all of Sirius' party worrying about school.

When she finally got to the common room, an hour after it started, she found that it was an utter success. When he saw her coming through the portrait hole, the birthday boy beamed at her, giving her a hug and a bottle of Butterbeer. The room was crowded, full of people from all the other houses.

After talking for a while with a very intoxicated Hufflepuff whose name she couldn't even understand and listening with Lily to Alice praising her new boyfriend, a Ravenclaw named Frank Longbottom, for what seemed like an hour, Hermione turned around to see Sirius staring out a window into the cloudy autumn sky, a determined look on his face.

She made her way to his spot and tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, he turned around, his expression relaxing when he saw his curly-haired friend. "Oh, it's you", he said. "Nice party, huh?".

They spent the following half hour talking about his family and her previous years at her old school . Hermione found out that, aside from his brother Regulus and his cousin Andromeda, the only other member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black he really liked was his uncle Alphard. Sirius was amazed to learn that Hermione had been attacked by a troll on her first year and that she had helped an hippogriff named Buckbeak from a death sentence on her third. Hermione smiled when he showed an interest on the creature, which still lived in his basement back home.

"I'm doing it on Christmas", he said after a small silence. "Telling my parents I'm not joining Voldemort, I mean".

Hermione patted him on the back. "You know you can count on me if anything happens", she said. "If you have to come back to school early I'll keep you company".

"You're staying here?", he asked, puzzled. "Why?".

"Well, my aunt stays here every year. She has to, as Deputy", se replied. "And I don't have any family aside from her".

They hadn't noticed James behind them, eavesdropping. "Well, we can't have that, can we Padfoot?", he suddenly joined the conversation, hugging each of them with one arm. "You can both stay at my place if you want. There's plenty of space for all of us, and my mum will love the company".

Hermione promised to ask McGonagall for permission, although it was Dumbledore who would have the final say. Sirius laughed. "I might have to live with you for far longer, Prongs". And boy, was he right.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's notes:**_ _First of all, thank you again to those of you who have reviewed/followed/favorited this story. You're the reason I keep writing!_

 _Second of all, I've decided to slow down my pace and start posting only one chapter per day or every two days. I didn't feel too good about the previous two, they feel a little rushed, and I've already noticed a couple mistakes that are driving me nuts ^^U I know my writing is sloppy, but I want to hold my story to some standards. This is the first fic I've ever written, and now I understand why most of my favourite stories take so long to update. I have such a hard time trying to find the words to tell the story that goes on in my mind, it's just so hard!_

 _Lastly, I want to warn you: it's going to be quite a long way before Hermione and Sirius' relationship becomes more than a friendship. I have a short summary for about 24 chapters, just to make sure I don't skip any key parts to the story, and it probably won't happen until the 16th-17th. The full story will probably be around 26 episodes long, I think._

 _Hopefully what I have in mind will keep you with me till we get there ^^ Enjoy!_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _December, 1977_

The first day of the Christmas holidays, Hermione gazed across the snowy hills ouside the train as the Hogwarts Express rattled along the tracks. Her friends' voices surrounded her: James telling her everything he had planned for both of them, Peter describing his grandma's best dishes, Lily's excitement at meeting her sister's soon-to-be husband... Only Sirius sat in silence, his eyes set on the same scenery as hers.

For the past couple of days, she had been hit full-on with nostalgia. Christmas had always been her favourite holiday, as it was the only time of the year when she would see all of her family together. They would usually rent a small cottage in the swiss Alps, and spend those few days skiing, relaxing and enjoying each other's scarce company. Ever since she started her magical education she had missed a couple of those trips, although it was always willingly. This once, she didn't have a choice.

But from what James was saying, she probably wouldn't have time for longing. She was starting to think they wouldn't even have time to sleep at all.

Hearing the loud whistle that announced their arrival in London, they started vacating the compartment. As she walked along the aisle, Hermione bid her farewell to her other mates. Even Severus, after making sure none of his friends was looking, wished her a happy holiday, his face contorted into the grimace that she knew meant he was smiling. He had just been born to be the serious, sulky type, the poor guy.

As they got off the train, James all but dragged her and Lily to who she had guessed was his mother. He introduced them, and Hermione noted the knowing smile she gave her son when he told her who the redhead was. He had told her about the beautiful girl he referred to as his future wife, something he was set on ever since he saw her for the first time, if what Remus had told her last week was true.

Sirius greeted his friend's mother too, but in a very different way. Grace Potter hugged him and commented on how thin he was (Hermione, who had seen his shirtless, toned body a couple times after his quidditch games, begged to differ). Apparently, for the past few years he had spent the majority of his summer holidays at the Potter's, and he was already considered to be part of the family.

He said his goodbyes, looking at them with the eyes of a lamb that knew he was headed towards the slaughterhouse. He found his brother and together they headed to the street, where they would catch a the Knight Bus home, since Regulus couldn't apparate yet. It seemed blood purity was very important for the Blacks, but they weren't concerned in the slightest about their children's well-being.

After Lily, Remus and Peter found their respective families, Hermione and James grabbed Mrs. Potter's hand, who apparated them to Godric's Hollow. It was a small but beautiful village, with a charming air that was accentuated by the snowy weather.

Hermione knew James was wealthy, since he had left a small fortune for Harry after his death, but she wasn't prepared to see his house. The Potter's estate, built on top of a hill, reminded her of the lavish chateaux she had seen on her summer holidays in France's countryside. It had enough rooms big enough to house half the Gryffindor population.

After James showed her to where she'd be sleeping and gave her a short tour of the house, they put on their coats and went to the village for a walk.

An hour had passed when they walked into a small coffee shop. They had just ordered their drinks when James looked at his friend, a shy expression on his face. "I have to tell you a secret", he said.

Curiosity in her eyes, she gave him a questioning look. "What's the matter?".

"Well... I asked Lily out yesterday", he said with a smile so big it looked like he had slept with a hanger in his mouth. "And she said yes".

Hermione grinned. "So that's why she was so late last night. Congrats, James!". She nudged him in the shoulder, playful. "Come on, tell me everything!".

They paid for their drinks and moved to a cozy table by the window. She questioned her beaming friend until she knew every little detail. Apparently, they had spent the afternoon in Hogsmeade, leaving through the secret passage beneath the one-eyed witch statue. James had taken Lily to Madame Puddifoot's, where they had laughed at how ridiculously corny everything was. They had finally walked to the Shrieking Shack, where they had shared their first kiss.

Hermione was so happy for her friend. Sirius had told her how he had spent the past five years chasing her, in that childish pull-your-hair laugh-at-you way that girls just despised. Apparently, after Jame's father demise the previous year, he had matured a lot, making the young redhead realize how many things they had in common.

She looked out the window, a sigh escaping her lips as she held her steaming cup of coffee. Everything was going so well: James and Lily together, Sirius about to escape his parent's claws... She also knew that Wolfsbane would be invented in the following months, which would make Remus' life so much easier. It saddened her to know that a couple years from now, everyting would start to go downhill for her friends.

Then, she noticed a familiar figure walking past the square in front of the café. He was carrying a trunk, and Hermione noticed he was headed towards James' house.

"Huh, James... isn't that Sirius?", she asked, squinting her eyes still looking out the window. James followed her gaze, and when he saw who she was referring to, he jumped to his feet. He grabbed Hermione's hand, and they rushed after their friend.

"Padfoot! Over here!", he yelled as they ran across the village. The boy turned around, surprised by their presence, and Hermione gasped. He looked like he had taken a good beating, but he had a huge smile on his face.

"Oh my god, what happened?", she said when they finally reached him, a horrified look on her face.

"Don't worry, Hermione, I'm okay", he assured. "I'm perfect, actually. Free at last!".

As they made their way to the Potter's, Sirius told them what had happened. The moment he had walked into his house, his parents knew something was going on. They had called him to the library, where they talked to him about the importance of those he acquainted himself with. They strongly disapproved of his friendship with James. After all, the Potters were what they called blood traitors.

It was when he told them, his voice filled with anger, that the Potters were better parents to him than they had ever been that the argument had gone wild. A myriad of curses had been fired, and Sirius was lucky to get out in such a good state. He had taken a couple blows as he struggled to grab his most important belongings, and had to give himself some time to keep from splinching on his way to Godric's Hollow.

But he was the happiest Hermione had ever seen him. He looked liberated, as if an enormous weight had been taken from his shoulders.

The following days were spent enjoying each other's company. They even gave Lily a visit at her parents' house, where Hermione and Sirius snickered as they saw their two friends casting each other blushing glances across the room. They daren't show any affection in front of her parents, especially when they didn't know yet where their relationship was headed, but they scurried away together as soon as they had a chance.

They had also learned that their friend had been thoroughly disappointed by her sister's fiancé. Lily and Petunia had never been the best of sisters, as their relationship had been strained by Petunia's jealousy towards Lily's magical abilities, but Vernon Dursley's judgemental personality had only helped her sibling become even more resentful towards her.

James, Sirius and Hermione became closer and closer as the holidays went by. The boys went so far as to show her their animagus forms. She reveled at James' majestic stag shape, and she giggled when a huge black dog jumped on top of her and started licking her face. They were set on her becoming one of the Marauders, and so she began training to become an animagus too. The boys had decided they would reveal Remus' secret to her as soon as she mastered her new form, but for now all she had managed to do was to change her ears to pointy, furry ones, and to grow a long, hairy tail. She had also taken quite a liking to round objects, and one day found herself laying in the ground, playing with one of Grace's balls of yarn.

On Christmas morning, Hermione was awakened by James and Sirius' jumping up and down in her bed. She found a small pile of presents at her feet, as well as in her friend's arms. They started opening them, and she felt a pang of emotion when she saw what they had gotten her: a bracelet with three small charms, each depicting an animal. For now, it had a stag, a dog and a cat, but she was sure they would soon be joined by a rat and a wolf. It was such a thoughtful gift.

On their last morning before leaving again for Hogwarts, they were having breakfast, talking animatedly about the pranks they had prepared for the following days. Suddenly, they heard something tapping agains the window, and Sirius was surprised to find a huge raven with a letter adressed to him tied to his claw. He hadn't expected to ever receive one of those again, since only the Black family used crows to send their correspondence.

He took the message from the bird, gave him a couple raisins and left the room, a concerned look on his face. Hermione and James later learned that his favourite uncle, Alphard Black, had heard of his banishment from the family, and wrote to let him know he had his full support, emotionally and financially. Sirius couldn't believe his luck: he had rid himself of the only thing that had kept him from being fully happy all these years, and had managed to keep everyone he loved at his side. That was, with the exception of his brother.

His parents' angry rant had caused exactly the opposite reaction on Regulus: he had confessed to having made a first contact with the Dark Lord himself, thanks to his house mates' connections. It wouldn't be too long before he became a Death Eater, and nothing could have made the Blacks prouder. But he was only doing it out of fear, and Sirius knew he would regret his decision.

Hermione had never heard a word about her friend' brother back in her time. She thought he would have told them something about him, had he become one of Voldemort's blind followers. And so, that's how she returned to Hogwarts: with her mind set on getting to know the younger Black. She had a feeling he would play an important role in her near future.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's notes:**_ _As of right now, this fic has more than a thousand views, and almost 300 visitors. I'm speechless._

 _Once again, thank you for reviewing/favoriting/following. I still wish I had more reviews, I really want to know your opinions and what you think is going to happen! I'm writing blindly here haha_

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _January, 1978_

Three weeks after their return to Hogwarts, Hermione sat alone in the library, surrounded by books and scribbling furiously on her parchment, a look of concentration in her face. To any stranger she would've looked like the bookworm everyone considered her to be. But had Lily or Remus entered the library, they would have noticed how little attention she was paying to what she wrote.

She wasn't studying: she was done with that even before leaving in December. She wasn't doing next week's homework: that was always finished by friday. No. Hermione was there on a mission: getting to know Regulus Black's every secret.

She had been following him everywhere since she arrived at school. She already knew his every habit, where he was at any time, who his acquaintances (she daren't call them friends) were, and what he had for breakfast. She knew he took a bath in the prefect's bathroom every other day at eight. But she also knew, thanks to Moaning Myrtle, that whenever he did, he wore a bandage tightly wrapped around his left wrist. As she suspected, he had taken the Mark this Christmas.

She was surprised she hadn't been caugh yet. Hermione had never been the sneakiest of her friends, she always relied on Harry's invisibility cloak and on silencing spells. But now, every time Regulus turned in her direction, directed his eyes to her or halted his steps to listen to anyone following him, two seconds before she had already hidden behind a tapestry, or looked the other way, or stopped at the previous corner. Maybe Sirius was right and she really was becoming a cat. Sometimes he even sniffed in her direction, his nose wrinkling in distaste. Jokingly, she hoped.

The reason Hermione was in the library was that, if he really followed his schedule as religiously as she thought, he would walk through the door in less than five minutes. And he would have no other choice than to sit right next to her: all the other tables were full with seventh year students. Luckily for her, all teachers had decided to give the most extensive homework of the year in the same week.

As she waited, she went over the conversation she'd had with Severus last monday. Of course she had asked him about her target. They always sat together at meals, and they were part of the same study group. That, for Severus, meant Regulus was one of his best friends. Although that hadn't been very hard to find out: he only ever spent so much time with him, Lily or Hermione.

Her sulky friend had told her some very interesting things about Sirius' brother. Apparently, he was to his year what Hermione was to hers. He was brilliant, earning praise from his every teacher, and always got top scores. Organized as he was, this didn't surprise Hermione. She had always told her friends that she wasn't that smart, she just kept an organized schedule and followed it to the point.

He also seemed to have a very strong sense of justice, and that, together with how loyal he was to his family, made her think he would've been better placed in Gryffindor. Only, he'd been born into the Black family, the poor thing.

She had also learned from Severus that Regulus had been behaving strangely for the past week. He didn't seem to eat much, leaving his plate almost full. He also didn't seem to sleep too much, as he had stumbled into him in the Slytherin common room the last two times he had left early in the morning for his rounds as a Prefect. If Hermione was right on her suspicions, it really hadn't taken him too long to regret joining the Death Eaters.

She heard the door open with a creak and knew Regulus had walked into the library. Without looking up, she heard his footsteps come to a halt as he noticed his usual table was occupied. He scanned the room, and heard him walking again, this time towards her.

When he pulled away his chair, she looked up at him and gave him a sweet, innocent smile. Seeing no evil intentions, he returned it and sat across from her, taking out his Potions book.

She continued copying everything from the book in front of her without even knowing what it was about. Her focus was on his parchment, and she noticed he was writing his Potions assignment. It was the same essay on the properties of Moonstone that Snape had given her last year, only she noticed his parchment was far shorter than the twelve inches she'd had to fill. Even she'd had trouble with that one.

She was so focused on his work that she hadn't noticed he was doing exactly the same, but with hers. He had been only sneaking glances at first, but when he understood what she was writing about, his hand stopped for a while on the same spot, leaving a huge blotch of black ink and ruining his essay.

"Why are you writing about that?", he suddenly asked, and Hermione jumped on her seat, startled. "Why would you want to know about Horcruxes?".

'Horcruxes? What the hell is that?', she asked herself. For the first time in the past hour she looked down at her own parchment and skimmed through the words, her face changing into a horrified expression. "Oh my god", she croaked, seemingly losing the ability to breathe.

Moving aside her paper, she took the book she was copying that information from and closed it so hard, Madame Pince hushed in her direction. Muttering an apology, she looked at the cover. Secrets of the Darkest Art, it read. What the hell was this doing in her hands? She had grabbed all her books at random from her favorite aisle, they were all supposed to be about the Goblin Wars. But this book belonged in the Restricted Section, if at all. She doubted it should even be at Hogwarts.

Pushing it from her with disgust, she remembered the very upset boy in front of her. 'Hurry up, Hermione. You can come up with something'.

She gave him a sheepish smile, an angelical expression on her face. "Well, I just love reading. You can never know too much about any topic, right?", she said, followed by a nervous laugh.

She could see on his face he didn't buy a word. "Do you know anything about what you're reading?", he asked, suspicion clearly showing on his face. "Or about who might have created any of those... things?".

She stared at him, flabbergasted. "Who could ever do such a thing?", she whispered. "This... this is disgusting. It would destroy your soul".

Eyeing the book with disgust, he stood up. "Indeed, it would", he said in a voice that chilled her to the bone. Regulus grabbed his belongings and stormed out of the library.

Hermione stayed on her spot, still shocked about what had just happened. Why did he know what those awful artifacts were? Did he suspect someone he knew was using them?

She cast those questions aside. Grabbing the book and tossing it into her bag, she sprinted out of the library, the librarian's angry gaze following her to the door. But she didn't care. She had to see the Headmaster.

As she reached the gargoyle, she panted the password. "Acid... pops...", she said, struggling for breath. The stone sculpture moved aside, and Hermione barged into Dumbledore's office without knocking.

"Miss Granger", he called, surprised. "What brings you to my office?". He noticed her state, and stood to help her to the seat in front of his.

It took her a few moments to catch her breath, but the alarmed look didn't leave her face. She dug into her bag, and dropped the enormous book on his table with a loud thud. "I wanted to ask you a few questions, Professor". She noticed how his face had paled the moment he'd set his eyes on the cover.

"Where did you find that, Miss Granger?", he asked. His voice was completely devoid of its usual warmth, and there was no trace of the usual twinkle in his eyes.

She gulped down. Suddenly her mouth had flooded. "It was in the library, Professor", she replied. "I went to the History of Magic section as usual and grabbed a bunch of books at random. I usually copy the most interesting parts to help memorizing". She now realized how stupid that sounded. Yeah, and it just happened to be a book on the darkest magic she'd ever seen. She looked down, and continued in barely a whisper. "I was distracted and didn't notice what I was writing until it was too late".

"You do realize how dangerous that book is, don't you, my dear?". As she looked up, she saw his expression had changed back to usual. He wasn't furious anymore, just concerned.

Hermione nodded, relieved that he had believed her. "I do, Professor. That's why a brought it to you. It doesn't seem to belong anywhere near a school".

"Thank you, Miss Granger. That was a wise choice. Luckily for us," he said as he went back to sit in his chair "I don't think any other student shares the same passion for history as you do, so I think we're safe for now". He gave her an appraising look. "But I'll have to investigate how this book came to be in our library". Seeing she was still troubled, he decided to offer her a drink. "Do you want a cup of tea, my dear?".

She nodded. "Yes, please. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, sir". He chuckled.

"Don't worry, Hermione. It's not your fault". He flicked his wand and two cups appeared in front of them, next to a steaming kettle and a jar. "Milk?", he inquired. He continued after she nodded. "As a matter of fact, I was about to call for you. I'm sure you've been thinking about our last talk".

Once again, she nodded. "Of course, Professor. Has there been any progress?".

"Indeed there has", he replied. "We were right in our assumption that the Veil was at Lesor. It is currently being transported to the Department of Mysteries". Hermione looked as if she'd just been hit by a stunning spell. "Are you okay, dear?".

She shook her head as if to clear it. "Yes, of course, Headmaster. Does that mean I can go home?", she asked, not sure about what she wanted the answer to be.

"I'm afraid it's still too soon to know. A group of twenty Unspeakables have been assigned to the investigation of that structure. We don't want to throw you in if we can't be sure you'll be safe".

"It only seems logical", she replied. "I actually wanted to talk to you. I've been thinking about it, and there's something that doesn't make any sense".

The Headmaster looked at her quizically, and gestured her to continue. "Well... I've been investigating. You said that Auror Shacklebolt's friend, the archeologist, found through his tests that the bodies inside Lesor were both over sixty years old. Did you mean they were both the same age?". He nodded, and she opened her eyes wide. "But that's impossible. When she went through the veil, Cleopatra was barely twenty. And Julius Caesar was fifteen years her senior!". She noticed his damned twinkle was back.

"You're right, my dear. I had given it some thought myself". He rested his chin over his crossed fingers. "And I think there's too many analogies with your situation. You said you had crossed the Veil with someone else, is that correct?". When she nodded, he continued. "Is that someone here at Hogwarts?". She nodded again. "And is he your age at the moment?". Again. She thought she was beginning to understand.

"Well, remember what I told you... the Veil was meant to take the two lovers to a time where they could be safe and together. It was known that Caesar's first wife was a woman that looked... exotic, we could say, compared to the average woman. Cornelia, I believe she was called. And it appears she vanished after fifteen years, at a time when Julius' council found her to be too meddlesome. It was not long after that he travelled to Egypt". He looked deeply into her eyes. "My theory is that, when they crossed, Cleopatra went back in time to a place where they would be happy together and were both twenty years old. When her life was threatened by his council, the magic worked again, and she was moved again through time. Since it had been exactly fifteen years, if she were taken to him it would be to the time when his murder was being plotted. He wasn't safe then. So they were both taken further forward". He stopped to drink some of his tea, shich had already gone cold. "That's the only way I can explain it".

Hermione sat there, thinking. Was that what had happened to them? It made sense: she had crossed the Veil with Sirius. At this time, she was exactly the same age as him. And they were both happy. "But then, what happens if I stay safe, Professor? What happens to Siri- my friend's older self? Will we ever meet again?". She caught herself before she slipped his name.

"That, I'm afraid, we will only know when the time comes".

 _ **Author's notes, part 2** : Please, pretty please, review!_

 _ **Next up** : Severus finds out about Lily and James. Hermione gets furrier._


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer** : None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _February, 1978_

"Oh, shit".

Hermione wasn't the kind of witch that cursed often. She had been taught that ladies kept themselves prim and proper, even if they felt like killing everyone on a kilometer radius. And so, she didn't usually curse. At least not out loud. But today was an exception.

"Oh, shit shit shit shit". She was running down the halls (something she was doing a lot lately), following what she knew was a very hurt and humiliated wizard.

She should have seen this coming. After all, him and Lily were close, and had been so since they were very little. He'd found out about her relationship with James, his arch-enemy, the one who had bullied him to hell and back, in the worst possible way: by finding him making out outside their Potions lab. Slughorn had dismissed the class, but he asked him and Hermione to stay back. He had invited them to one of his dinner parties, which they politely declined, and had been met with the lovey-dovey couple just as they left.

And that's how she had ended up running this time.

She rushed through the still open main door and was met by Hogwarts' cold wintery breeze. Casting a warming charm on herself, she gazed across the grounds, finally finding him sitting under a tree by the lake. She made her way to him, and sat next to his sullen shape.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way", she said. "I didn't know you felt that way about her".

He shook his head. "It's not your fault. And it's not like that, actually. It's just...". He groaned in frustration. "You wouldn't understand, anyway".

His response was met with a glare from the witch next to him. "Try me", she said, annoyed.

"Well... I'm not jealous. I don't like her that way. Hell, she's like a sister sister to me. I feel I have this need to protect her". He was pulling the grass between his legs, taking out his frustration. "It could have been anyone else. Any stupid Hufflepuff could have done. But she had to go for him". She could almost taste the bile coming out of his mouth.

"Once you get to know him, he's not too bad, you know". If looks could kill, Severus' would soon be on his way to Azkaban for killing a certain bushy-haired witch. "I know, I know. The way he has always treated you is disgusting, and you don't deserve it". She didn't know how to explain it, so she decided to talk from experience. "You know, I'm really bad at making friends. Acromantulas make friends faster than I do". He chuckled. Well, that was a start. "When I first got here, I was terrified. I was bound to spend my last years of school all alone. And it didn't take James a second to let me know he wouldn't let that happen".

He didn't say anything, he just huffed. "Also, try to look at the bright side. Now he won't lay a finger on you", Hermione said. "You know Lily would curse him into next week".

Now, that was an actual laugh. She stood up, offering him her hand. "But this doesn't mean I don't hate his guts", he said. Hermione groaned, nodding, and he accepted it. They slowly made their way back to the castle.

Later that day, Hermione was about to go to sleep when she heard Lily walk into the room, a sheepish smile on her lips. Hermione knew she had spent the past two hours sitting on James' lap, and they had seemed to forget they could use their mouths to talk.

She shook her head. "You have to talk to Severus", Hermione said to her friend. "He's not angry anymore, but he needs to know you're still there for him".

"I know, I saw him today", Lily answered, looking ashamed. "I'll do it tomorrow, first thing in the morning. We're partners in Herbology".

Hermione nodded, and went back to her bed. The room was already dark when she woke up. She could hear something scratching at the door. Had Alice left her cat outside again?

She opened it, and was met with a huge black dog, one that she had seen plenty of this past Christmas. "Sirius, what the hell are you doing here?".

The dog bit her pajama pants and pulled. "Okay, okay. I'll go with you. Just let me grab my wand". She looked out the window. It had to be almost two AM. She groaned.

She followed him down the stairs and into the common room, where he returned to his human form, and they met James, Remus and Peter. They were all alone, and the only light source was the moon

It was Remus that spoke first. "You must be wondering why we've called you on such unholy hours", he said. "Well, Peter and I have been told you've been doing some... extracurricular activities", he continued, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Yeah", Peter continued. "And we've also been told you're as good as ready to join our group. So take this as a test".

Sirius was next. "If you can transform, you're in, and we'll let you know why it is we run to the grounds once every month".

James interrupted him. "You're making it sound like we're on our period, Padfoot". Hermione chuckled, and he continued. "Well, go ahead!".

She was nervous. She still hadn't managed a full transformation, although the past few times she had only missed a small patch on her tummy, where her human belly button was still visible. But she was a Gryffindor, she was brave, and these four losers wouldn't be better than her!

Hermione closed her eyes, her mind focused on her goal. Se saw her entire body shrinking, her fingers shortening and growing long retracted claws. She felt her nose curving up, her ears moving to the top of her head, and whiskers sprouting around her mouth. Her arms and legs were now underneath her agile frame, and she could now move her very long tail. With one last effort, she focused on her thick, fluffy fur, all over her body.

When she opened her feline eyes, she could see her four friends beaming. She knew they weren't cheering because they didn't want anyone to wake up and find them there, but she could feel how proud they were.

Hermione jumped into Sirius' lap. He scratched her behind her ears, and she reveled at the sensation. For the first time in her life, Hermione purred.

Minutes later, having returned to her final form, they all sat in a circle. Peter and Remus handed her a tiny box each, where she found two small silver charms, one shaped like a rat, the other like a wolf. She added them to the bracelet they had got her for Christmas, a smile on her lips.

Remus looked at her, a sad look in his eyes. "Well, it's time for you to know our biggest secret", he said. "There's a reason these four crazy idiots decided to become unregistered animagi. They just wanted to keep me company". He looked down and took a deep breath. He lifted his gaze and looked her straight in the eye. "I'm a Werewolf, Hermione".

She shocked all of them when, instead of running away, Hermione smiled and hugged him. "I thought you would never tell me, Remus". When she pulled back, she could see how perplexed he was. "Oh, come on. You knew that I knew. I've been dropping hints all over the place!"

He blinked a couple times, still not getting over her surprise. "So I didn't imagine that, huh?", he asked with a sheepish grin. She could tell he was relieved.

"No, you didn't, you goof!". She explained that, back at her old school, one of her teachers had been a werewolf. She also said he was one of the kindest, warmest people she'd ever known, and also the best Defence teacher she had ever had. Remus smiled. He didn't have high expectations for his future, as he had always thought there was a lot of prejudice towards his kind. This gave him hope.

When she saw his smile, Hermione decided against telling him that, as soon as word had spread out about her teacher's condition, he had been forced to quit.

So it was from then on that the Marauders accepted a new member into their ranks. It was Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail and Whiskers that spent the following three nights in the Shrieking Shack, keeping Moony company and prancing around the Forbidden Forest.

For some reason, Sirius refused to call her Whiskers, as that had been the name of his pet cat as a kid. He was the only one in the group that called her Kitten.

And for some reason, it made Hermione all tingly.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's notes:**_ _Thank you to every one of you who left a review. I wish I could reply to your questions, but the answers will come, eventually!_

 _Hope you enjoy this chapter, I really like telling whatever we know happens in the canon story from the perspective of this fic, it's really interesting._

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _March, 1978_

Oh, how the tables had turned. The watcher had become the watched. The stalker had become the stalked. And Hermione didn't like it one bit.

Ever since their little incident at the library, whenever they were in the same room, Regulus didn't peel his icy glare from her. She knew it must have been a shock to see her reading that book, but she felt like there was something behind this. Hermione had learnt about Horcruxes by accident, but why would he even know about their existence? She was aware of his family's predilection towards black magic, as Sirius had told her about their family library and how his parents had gone so far as to force him to read books on the matter, but this one in particular made regular black magic look like sunshine.

She knew the only way to get the answers to her questions was to talk to him in person, but lately it seemed he was never alone. And she didn't want to cause him any trouble: certainly, seeing him walking with Gryffindor's resident know-it-all would probably raise suspicion from his house mates.

Hermione was having breakfast with her friends at the Great Hall while they discussed their plans for the day. It was a Hogsmeade Friday, and that meant she would have to stay in the castle alone. She had made the mistake of going with them on their last visit, and she now knew the exact number of tiles on the floor of The Three Broomsticks, how many stains were on the ceiling, and could have taken Rosmerta's cash register's place, since she had learned the entire menu by heart. Going out with James, Lily, Sirius and whoever he was dating that week proved to be worse than her short dates with Viktor Krum, conversationally speaking.

As she said her goodbyes and wished them a nice day, Hermione cast a last glance towards Regulus while making her way to the exit. And there he was, still glaring at her. She rolled her eyes at him, and headed towards her favourite spot by the lake.

It was a beautiful day. The warm breeze and clear sky betrayed the impending beginning of spring, and she took off her jumper, rolling her sleeves to catch as much sun as she could.

As she laid down with her eyes closed, she felt the sudden coldness of a shadow being cast on her. She opened her eyes with an annoyed look, and found none other than Regulus Black towering over her.

"You should be careful where you tread, McGonagall."

Hermione huffed at his hypocrisy, "That's rich, coming from a Death Eater." She smirked when she saw the surprise in his eyes, "What, you think nobody would notice how you never show you-"

"What do you want from me?" She could feel the frustration in his voice.

'Well, it's now or never,' she though. "I want to know how you came to know about Horcruxes," she said, deciding it was time to be honest. "I want to know who you think... who you _know_ is creating one."

He sat down next to her after making sure no one was looking. Up close, Hermione could see just how exhausted he was. "He will kill me if I say anything. But," Regulus looked her intensely. "I think I don't care anymore. The things he makes us do..."

"You're talking about Voldemort, right?" So that's how He had done it. He should have died the night He tried to kill Harry. Her friend had been protected by his mother's love magic, but nobody loved Him. There must've been something else.

"Of course it's him. It's always him. If you look into anything bad that happens around you, ultimately it's always him behind it," He looked down, a pained expression on his face.

Hermione frowned. "Has he hurt anyone you know?"

"My family's house elf, Kreacher," Hermione raised an eyebrow. She had met the infamous house elf that took care of Grimmauld Place two summers ago. "After I joined, he asked my parents for his services. They almost pissed their pants with excitement when he contacted them. The great Dark Lord, requesting their help. Of course, they said yes. And then, when he was done with Kreacher, he just left him there to die alone," he said, his eyes brimming with tears.

She was taken aback. A Black, a _pureblood_ , concerned about a house elf's well being? Not even Sirius had shown affection towards his house's keeper. And Hermione couldn't hold it against him: the creature was despicable. It seemed to hate his owner with a passion, calling him a Blood Traitor, and seemed to do more bad than good when it came to taking care of the place.

Regulus continued, his voice catching from time to time. "He used to be such a good house elf. Always taking care of me, he was so loyal. After He took him, Kreacher wasn't the same. He suffered so much." He was now looking into the lake, his face full of anger. "But after I took care of him, he told me what He had done. He was hiding his Horcrux in a cave somewhere in the south. He made Kreacher drink an awful potion, and he laughed all through it. Luckily, after He abandoned him, he was able to apparate back home." He turned his head, and looked Hermione straight in the eye. "I'm going to destroy it. Doesn't matter if I have to die. I will take him down."

Hermione was awed. She had initially feared it was Regulus himself who wanted to create a Horcrux. She smiled. "Sirius was right about you, after all. You are a good person," He seemed surprised. "He loves you, you know? When he left home, what hurt him most was knowing he couldn't protect you anymore. He was afraid you would succumb to Voldemort's evil," She touched his shoulder. "I will help you. If there's anything I can do, please let me know."

They talked for a little longer. Regulus asked her to find out know what potion it was that Kreacher had been forced to drink, describing the effects. He had looked through every potions book in the school library, but he didn't have access to the Restricted Section, so Hermione offered. Professor Dumbledore had given her permission to use it during her research of the Veil.

A while later, after Regulus had gone back to the castle, a grateful look on his face, Hermione was starting to get comfortable again under the sun when she heard someone clearing his throat next to her.

"Oi, can't a girl have some alone time around here?", she said, looking up with a frown in her face. It was now Severus' lanky form that was sitting down in the spot where Regulus had occupied just moments ago.

"Am I disturbing you?", he asked, a mocking smirk on his face. She shook her head, waving her hand in dismissal. "You seem to have lost your entourage. Where are your lapdogs?"

Hermione gave him a funny look. Did he know something about her friends' furry forms? "They're in Hogsmeade. And Remus is visiting his sick aunt".

Only, that was a lie. It was the excuse they used whenever there was a full moon. In truth, Remus was currently not too far from them, in the Shrieking Shack, and Peter was keeping him company for the day.

"Why didn't you go with them?", he asked, curiosity filling his dark eyes.

"I'd rather go on a date with the Giant Squid than waste one more day of my life watching James and Sirius fishing down their conquest's throats, thank you." Severus laughed, a throaty chuckle that made Hermione smile. "You're in a good mood."

"It's not everyday that you hear someone that's not a Slytherin talking shit about those two." Hermione smacked him playfully in the neck.

"Well, and what are you doing here? What's your excuse?". She knew he usually took this as a chance to grab some potions supplies in the village.

"I didn't really feel like it," he said absentmindedly. "And I wanted to ask you something... Haven't you noticed anything strange about your friend Lupin?"

Hermione gulped. "What do you mean, anything strange?"

"Well... I've seen that there's a pattern to the way he keeps disappearing. He goes away every single month for three days," he said, with a puzzled look. "Just what kind of sickness does his aunt have that she needs him to leave school every month?"

'He's going to find out', Hermione thought.

"And also... yesterday, while I was doing my rounds, I saw Black scurrying through the grounds," His face had gone from puzzled to suspicious. "He went into this huge tree behind the castle, and when I left he hadn't come out yet. And I remember, not too long ago, he said something about a secret entrance, and that I should visit sometime at night."

'Well, that's because he had been too busy snogging that Hufflepuff twat that he hadn't noticed he was late', she thought, suddenly annoyed. "He was probably meeting with some random girl, Sev," she said. "Don't think too much of it. And Remus," she had to think quickly. "Well, his aunt needs to take this potion every month for her illness. And the Headmaster only trusts Slughorn with it, so when it's ready Remus takes it himself."

The suspicion didn't leave his eyes, but he decided drop the topic. He was obviously not going to get any information from Hermione, loyal as she was. 'Damn Gryffindors...'

They spent the rest of the day together, and had lunch in the kitchens.

When it was time for dinner, they each left for their own common rooms. There, she waited for her friends, and when they finally arrived she found out Sirius' date had been cut short. Apparently, his snog of the week didn't take well to knowing Sirius' feelings about serious relationships. Or lack of thereof. "I'm telling you, it was the worst Hogsmeade visit ever. These two," he said, gesturing towards James and Lily. "It was like talking to a wall. A wall that gives off these disgusting smacking sounds."

Hermione laughed. "Well, that's karma kicking you in the butt. I went through the same last time, only twice as bad!"

He muttered a small apology, "I'm sorry, Kitten". She smiled. There was nothing she could do against those puppy eyes.

It was already nighttime when they went to the Great Hall. Hermione looked around. She nodded towards Regulus, who gave her a grateful look. But Severus was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, have you seen Severus since you got here?", she asked Lily.

Her friend nodded. "Yeah, I saw him when we got back from Hogsmeade. He was walking through the grounds."

'Well, crap.' Hermione turned to the Marauder closest to her, Sirius. " _We need to go_!", she whispered into his ear.

His mouth was already full of chicken and potatoes. "Bhut I'm shtarphing!", he mumbled, spitting little pieces of chicken.

"Sirius, it's Severus," Hermione replied angrily. "He saw you going into the Willow last night. He's going in!"

It appeared Sirius had suddenly lost his appetite. He gestured James towards the door, and all three of them hurried towards the grounds.

Had they appeared a minute later, Remus would've had some Snape for dinner.

It was almost three hours later when they finally got back to the common room.

"I cannot believe you were so careless, Sirius." Hermione was furious. "He could have been killed! We all could have been expelled! We were lucky that Dumbledore favours us, else we would be out in a pinch!"

"Come on Kitten, it wasn't that bad. Did you see Snivellus' face, James? Oh, I wish I could have that framed," he chuckled.

James gave him a serious look. "Hermione is right, Padfoot. This could have ended very badly. We were lucky Hermione noticed he was gone."

Sirius huffed, an annoyed expression in his face. "Okay, knock it off, you two. I'm sorry I was late yesterday. And I shouldn't have provoked him that day with the Whomping Willow. But there's nothing we can do about it now, is there?"

"Well, for one you could apologize to Remus tomorrow. He's going to feel like shit," And it was right. Hermione knew Remus was a very sensitive guy, and knowing that he could have killed someone was going to drive him nuts.

"All right, Kitten. I'll do it as soon as I see him," He nudged her shoulder. "Will you please forgive me?"

Oh, those puppy eyes again. Reluctantly, Hermione gave him a tired smile. 'This boy is going to be the death of me'.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's notes:**_ _Thank you for your reviews, and sorry this took so long. I needed a couple days to myself. It's a shortie, but after the last one and with what's coming, a small transition was necessary. You're gonna love the next one, trust me!_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _None of the characters depicted here belong to me, and the Harry Potter universe comes from Mrs. Rowling's mastermind._

 _April, 1978_

Severus was angry. Really, really angry. And Hermione couldn't help but agree with him.

Maybe he shouldn't have let Sirius' provocations get to him, but her friend shouldn't have provoked him in the first place. One thing was to harmlessly prank him, but this... he could have died.

The thing was that Severus wasn't blaming him. For some unknown reason, he was blaming James. And James was the one who had saved him in the first place. It was probably because he already hated him with a passion because of his relationship with Lily, and this had only given him another reason to do so.

For the past three weeks, Hermione had spent their Potions lessons in complete silence. He wouldn't say a word to her, and she was too afraid that talking would only make him angrier. That night he had also found about their Animagus forms, and he had been hurt that she hadn't told him. He now firmly believed she didn't trust him, and apparently now she wasn't worthy of his friendship.

As today's class ended, Severus grabbed his belongings and hurriedly left the classroom, not even glancing towards her. Hermione looked down, a disappointed look on her face, and she was startled when felt a friendly pat on the back.

She turned around to find Lily, giving her a sympathetic glance. "He'll get over it, don't worry," she said. "It's his way of coping with pain, he closes in on himself and stays silent for a while."

"You really do know him, don't you?" Hermione replied, visibly jealous. She didn't harbor any feelings towards their broody friend, but Severus was important to her.

Lily smiled. "It would be hard not to. We have known each other since we were five."

Hermione was visibly surprised. She thought they just became friends during their first years at Hogwarts. "Really? How did you meet?"

"Let's have lunch first, and I'll tell you all about it later, okay?" Hermione nodded in agreement. After Severus had left, all her nerves went with him, and now she was starving.

A couple hours later found her and Lily inside an empty classroom.

"Well, we got to know each other when we were little," Lily started. "We lived in the same neighborhood, and played in the same park. There were a lot of children in the area, but we somehow... attracted each other. It all started making sense when I began showing signs of being magical." She was smiling, obviously nostalgic.

"Sev's mother was a witch. His father was a muggle. She passed away shortly before he began his classes here, and he abandoned their house a while later. He doesn't talk a lot about them, but he once told me his father was very violent towards his mother," Lily continued, her face now turned to sadness. "He hadn't known about her powers when they got married, but she couldn't hide it anymore after a while. And then, when Sev came and showed he was a wizard too, it only got worse."

"Oh my god, I never knew," Hermione said with an horrified expression.

"It's alright. He's a very private person, and he doesn't tell many people," Lily replied. "I'm sure if the boys knew about this they would leave him alone, but Sev wouldn't let me tell them when I asked. He said it would only make it worse."

"He really thinks they are bad people," Hermione said. "And I really can't blame him. They've always been so horrid to him. And after last month..."

"Yes, I have actually always sided with him on this matter. And lately James has been behaving himself, he knows how I am when I'm angry," she smiled. "But anyway, it didn't help when he was sorted into Slytherin. His house mates started teasing him about his relationship with me, you know how they are about that whole blood purity thing... And they are not the best of friends either, at least not like we are. Slytherins think about their peers as more like someone who could give them an advantage or pose a threat. It's crazy in there, they are ruthless."

"That I knew. Regulus has told me about them," Hermione said. "It's awful how they always turn to the dark when they find themselves alone. They could have been sorted into any other house and their lives would've been so different."

It was actually really sad. Both Regulus and Severus were good people, despite what they showed to others.

"We had a huge fight last year, you know?", Lily continued. "After he became a Death Eater. "

Hermione was gobsmacked. "A Death Eater? Severus?" Of course she had known about it since her fourth year, but he was much younger now. Always thinking the best of her teachers, Hermione had always thought that Snape had joined by Dumbledore's request.

"Yeah, I thought the same. Such a sweet boy, joining that maniac..." Lily looked down, disappointed. "But it was bound to happen. He had a lot of angst around him, with his father having just died, James and the boys teasing him every day... And he told me there was a lot of pressure from his house mates. Do you know the blond one, Malfoy? He's in charge of attracting as many followers as possible. And being Head Boy, rich and handsome has turned him into a lamp that keeps on attracting weak moths."

It made sense. He seemed to be in charge back at the Department of Mysteries. It seemed that came from way back. "And you know, at first he was convinced that he was doing the right thing. That Voldemort really plays with your mind, and sad, angry teenage boys are specially easy to charm. Of course, a bunch of them are being Imperiused, but the vast majority are there of their own accord. I don't know how many regret joining, but from what he's told me about their meetings, most of them really enjoy the awful things He makes them do..."

A while later, after Lily had left to meet James in the common room, Hermione went to the library. She was too upset and needed some distraction.

Walking into the Restricted Section, she grabbed the next six Potions books on her list. She had already gone through half of it, and found nothing about that mysterious green potion Regulus had told her about.

Two hours later, Hermione shot straight up. She read the last sentence again. 'The Drink of Despair is an ancient potion used to induce the drinker into a state of fear, delirium and extreme thirst. It is usually made with the purpose of concealing something precious, since once it has been brewed, it may only be poured into a recipient once. After that, the only way to move it is by ingesting it. It appears as an opaque green liquid that glows under any light'. This was it. She quickly copied all the information into a parchment, antidote included.

After leaving the library, Hermione headed towards the owlery. She didn't want to risk Regulus' friends seeing them together, and she decided it would be best to contact him by letter. She thought afterwards she really ought to charm some Galleons, as she had done last year, to make sure nobody intercepted their messages.

She quickly wrote her message. 'I have found the drink. It has an antidote. Will contact you when it's ready. H'. Simple and concise. That would do.

Hermione let out a breath, relieved. It was only a matter of time before they destroyed the Horcrux. And then Voldemort would be mortal, at last.


End file.
